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Psalm 82 · a question people ask

Who is speaking in this psalm?

In the text

The title says "A Psalm by Asaph." (82:1), and the psalm names no one as its speaker. The first line speaks of God: "God presides in the great assembly. He judges among the gods" (82:1). Then the WEB prints quotation marks round 82:2, "How long will you judge unjustly, and show partiality to the wicked?" (82:2), and again round 82:3-4, which end "Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked" (82:4); the psalm doesn't add "God says", but it sets these words straight after "He judges among the gods" (82:1). Verse 5 has no quotation marks, and speaks of them: "They don’t know, neither do they understand" (82:5). Then an I speaks: "I said, “You are gods, all of you are sons of the Most High" (82:6), and the quotation marks run to the end of 82:7. The psalm doesn't name the I, and when Jesus quoted the verse he said only, "If he called them gods" (John 10:35). The last verse speaks to God: "Arise, God, judge the earth" (82:8).

The verses

“If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture can’t be broken),”
John 10:35 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Psalm 82

Psalm 82: God judges among the gods

One Hebrew verb, shafat, runs through Psalm 82 four times: God "judges among the gods" (82:1), they are asked "How long will you judge unjustly" (82:2), they are told "Defend the weak" with the same verb (82:3), and the psalm ends "Arise, God, judge the earth" (82:8). And Jesus quoted its "I said, you are gods" (John 10:34).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions